CFB Dynasty

Real schools. Fictional stars. The portal never sleeps and neither do you.

Pick your program

44 real schools in the post-realignment landscape. Recruit with NIL, survive the conference, make the 12-team Playoff, win the natty, then do it again with a new roster. Classes graduate, stars declare early, dynasties are earned. Saves automatically.

SEC

Big Ten

ACC

Big 12

Group of Five

CFB Dynasty: College Football Program Sim

Take over one of 44 real programs in the post-realignment landscape: the loaded SEC and Big Ten, the ACC and Big 12 cores, and a Group of Five path for giant killers. Every player is a generated recruit with a class year, so rosters actually churn: freshmen develop, seniors graduate, elite juniors declare early, and the transfer portal giveth and taketh. Recruit with an NIL budget that grows with prestige and winning, sweat scouting error on high school grades, chase conference championships, and fight through the real 12-team College Football Playoff with byes for the top four seeds. Win Heismans, stack natties, build the dynasty.

CFB Dynasty hands you a real college football program and an open-ended job: win now, recruit forever, stack championships. The 44 schools are real. The players are not: every athlete is a generated recruit with a class year, so rosters age and churn.

Each season runs into conference championships and the 12-team Playoff, then an NIL and portal offseason before you run it back.

How to play CFB Dynasty, a free college football GM sim

Picking a program by its prestige rating

Pick a program. Its prestige rating drives your talent pipeline and NIL budget.

Playing one week of the season at a time

Play one week at a time: 12 games, weeks 1 to 4 out of conference, weeks 5 to 11 in it, and week 12 is rivalry week.

Week 12 is rivalry week, and every program plays its rival, even one from another conference. Your rival is a school from your own state when one is free to pair with you, otherwise a pairing the game made, and the game tells you which. Florida has three schools on the board, so Florida and Miami get each other and Florida State gets a pairing the game made.

The rivalry winner carries 0.5 to 1.5 points of extra strength into the title games and the Playoff, the loser drops the same, and a margin of 21 or more swings the full 1.5.

Reaching the conference title game

Finish top two in your conference to reach its title game; win it for an automatic Playoff bid.

The conference table goes by conference winning percentage, not raw wins, because not everyone plays the same number of league games: a program whose rival is in another conference spends week 12 outside the league.

Surviving the twelve team Playoff bracket

Survive the 12-team bracket, single elimination from the first round to the national championship.

Spending NIL points on recruits and the portal

Spend NIL points across an 18-player high school board and an 8-player portal, then start the next season.

The same offseason screen holds your two coordinators, one for the offense and one for the defense. Each moves his side of the ball by up to 3 rating points either way: 70 is neutral, 95 is the full plus 3, 45 the full minus 3, and an empty chair is called by a grad assistant who counts as a 50.

In a game each side scores 1.5 more points for every point its offensive coordinator's edge beats the other side's defensive coordinator's.

Keep your coordinators, let one go and get his pay back, or shop three candidates per chair, one rated below your program's level, one around it and one above it. A hire costs the difference between his pay and the pay of the man he replaces, and is refused if the pot cannot cover it.

A coordinator rated 85 or better can be hired away as a head coach after any season, and his chair stays empty until you fill it.

CFB Dynasty rules for the Playoff, NIL and recruiting

Twelve teams make the Playoff field

The Playoff field is 12: the 5 conference champions plus 7 at-larges, seeded by ranking, byes for the top four.

On the same record the better resume ranks higher: strength of schedule, the average strength of every opponent actually played, title game included, plus the team's own strength. The 7 at-large spots and the seeds come off that ranking, and the Schedule tab shows your number and where it ranks.

Scouting error on high school grades

High school grades carry scouting error of up to 4 points either way. Portal transfers show true ratings and arrive as sophomores.

How the NIL budget resets each offseason

NIL resets each offseason from prestige plus wins, and every signing spends against it.

Rivalry week moves that budget: a win adds 3 to 8 points and a loss takes 3 to 8 away, with a margin of 21 or more swinging the full 8.

Your two coordinators are paid first out of the same budget, from 3 points a season for a 45 to 16 for a 95, and what is left is your NIL money. If the budget cannot cover them, the dearest walks until it can.

Seniors graduating and juniors declaring early

Seniors graduate and juniors rated 88 or higher often declare early.

CFB Dynasty walkthrough: Boise State chases a title run

Boise State runs the table for an automatic bid

You take Boise State, prestige 78. One September loss, then you run the league, finish 11-1, and win the conference title game for the automatic bid.

Week 12 is rivalry week against Tulane, a pairing the game made because no other Idaho school is on the board. You win it by 24, so Boise State carries 1.5 extra points of strength into the title game and the Playoff, and the trail opens with 8 more budget points.

A junior quarterback declares after the semifinal

You win a first-round game, stun a bye team in the quarterfinals, and lose the semifinal. Then your 89-rated junior quarterback declares, so you sign a portal passer rated exactly 81 and roll the dice on a 5-star scouted at 83 who might really be a 79. Or an 87.

CFB Dynasty tips for the portal and the recruiting board

Portal needs versus high school ceilings

Shop the portal for needs, the high school board for ceilings. Transfers are exactly as rated; freshmen develop longest.

Never starting a season without a real quarterback

Never enter a season without a real quarterback; the sim weighs your starter heavily.

Recruiting to the holes the offseason notes list

Recruit to the holes. The offseason notes list who graduated and who declared.

CFB Dynasty FAQ: saves, real players and Group of Five teams

Are the players real athletes?

No. Schools and format are real; every player is fictional.

Does my dynasty save?

Yes, automatically, in your browser, one slot. The fire yourself button wipes it for good.

Can a Group of Five team win it all?

Yes. Its champion is one of the 5 automatic qualifiers, and single elimination does not care about prestige.

Is CFB Dynasty free to play?

Yes. CFB Dynasty is free to play on DoUKnowBall, right in your browser. No download and no signup needed.

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